A Single Feather
by Misoka Kai
Summary: They hurt his friends, he won't forgive them, he'll hunt them, even if it costs him his life. One-shot.


**A/N: Yuss, been a long time since I last posted something. XD ...And this time, from a different fandom too. I have this one other Summon Night: Swordcraft Story 2 fic in process and also various ideas of Merlin fics song-inspired... ...and some ideas for Elsword fanfics too... ...I'm procrastinating. Despite this being a holiday. ... ...Alright, forget it, that's me rambling.**

 **So, anyway, after being in a long hiatus from this game, I decided to play it again... ...because the update of a new chara, LuCiel! 8DDD They're awesome! I love Royal Guard and Noblesse! Taken the RG job already, Noblesse hasn't been updated in my country's server though. Anyway, oh my god, it's really such a fun to control them! / v /) Not as easy as Wind Sneaker, my main chara, but still awesome! 8D**

 **But then again, I love Blade Master the most. :'3 Because he's really cool and he's awesome and- basically I love him. It was love at first sight. 8D LOL. When I first saw Raven, I was like. "This is the job I'm getting for him!" Just like when I first saw Void Princess... ...nah, that's irrelevant to the story. Anyway, this story is a Raven-centric fic, and the only important job is Raven's job, Blade Master, because I didn't use the other characters, simply him. 8D Pfft, enjoy!**

 **Ohh, right, I'm not a native English speaker so I apologize for any grammatical or spelling mistakes! 8D ...The title's kind of irrelevant to the story, btw, just thought it's cool. .w.)**

 **Warnings: Major Character Death (...that's kind of a spoiler isn't it? :/)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Elsword. (But I'd love some IS, WS, VP, BM, CN, SD, BH, DC, DE, RG/NB- alright, that's the list of my favorite jobs for each character... ...based on their appearances! ...because if it was skills... I'd rather MM... ...but DE is pretty strong too as long as you can control it...)**

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A Single Feather

The howling could be heard even when he'd just stepped in into the Altar. It resounded through the howl building, covering every nook and cranny with its loud and fierce sound. That didn't make him waver though. In fact, it just made his determination stronger than ever. His friends came home all battered and bruised. Even on the edge of dying actually if they weren't strong fighters. This beast proved to be a handful even with the four of them. When the party came back, they decided to discuss on a plan, who should go next, what tactics they should use.

But Raven couldn't wait. The village had been terrorized for so long by this very demon. And now, seeing his friends being beaten to almost on the verge of death, he couldn't stay put that long. He decided to strike that night. He didn't want to bring any of his friends, in case things get to the worst case scenario. He could at least try to weaken the beast.

They had suffered enough. And this time, Raven at the very least hoped that he could protect his friends and the villagers. He wouldn't risk them anymore pain. The incident on the Black Crow was a trauma to him. Looking at his bloody friends, it sparked a memory within Raven, one that made him fear for the safety of his friends and his loved ones as well as the innocent people around. Better him than the others. Always better him.

He marched through the halls and corridors of the dark altar, slashing and charging though every demon soldiers. The only thing in his mind was to kill the beast. Nothing else mattered.

It was no easy task going through it alone. Every mini boss they encountered before, they were all assembled in this very place, blocking his way. By the time he reached the last place before he faced Berthe, he was tired, exhausted, and injured, badly.

He stood still, letting out harsh breaths, supported by his blade. He wouldn't go down here. He had no intentions of dying here. But if things _did_ come to worse, it would be fine. They would be alright, the demon would be gone, everything would once again be fine. Or at least so he hoped.

They would definitely mourn, they were great friends and companions after all. Despite his past, despite everything, they loved him. But they would get over it eventually. They had to. They're fighters.

Raven sucked a long breath, coughing on the process as a pain throbbed on his lungs. He looked at his palm to find a small pool of blood there. A trail of blood left his mouth. Beads of it dripped down to the floor below when they reached his chin.

He closed his mouth and gritted his teeth, taking a bottle from the pocket inside his coat.

" _There's only a limited supply of this, and I'm giving each of you one, alright?" Ariel said, handing the bottle to them. The blue liquid sloshed inside. "It's a potion currently being developed by Cobo. It'll fasten the recovery rate of your injury and will absorb the surrounding mana, granting you additional power. It's still under development but this is the most successful attempt so far. Use it only when you're in a pinch."_

Raven opened the bottle cap and gulped it all down. True to Ariel's word, his injury no longer hurt, he could see the previously bleeding wounds closing up quickly. He could also feel the mana surrounding him, the power inside him absorbing it all.

He's ready, he could do this. Berthe would go down this time. His friends had weaken them, he was sure, he could finish it. And he could, hopefully, come back to his friends. He hoped this would be enough to atone for his past sins. He hoped the Black Crow and Seris would forgive him.

He entered the portal and could feel his body being teleported towards the last room on the top of the Altar of Dedication.

The blue beast was there, looking at him with sharp eyes, his breath coming out heavy and cold, mist formed at each breath.

From his friends' story, he learned one thing. At any sign of a powerful skill, the beast would let out a deafening howl that would render his skill useless.

Gripping his sword tighter and readying into a fighting stance. He looked at the beast as it looked back to him. The beast growled and charged. At the same time, he, too, let out a fighting yell and leaped, sword tight In his hand lifting it to land a slash on the beast.

The fight was perilous. The beast looked as if it has infinite amount of health. Even with the wounds criss-crossing it everywhere on its body, it didn't show any sign of weakening, not even a slowing in movement. It simply looked angrier and seemed to be gathering in power too.

Raven could feel his strength leaving him. He was exhausted, very much so. Even with his friends previously inflicted damage, the beast still proved to be hard to be killed, stubborn as it was. He winced at the pain on his back. The beast had landed a nasty scratch there, the wounds now bleeding freely and he was sure it would be infected any time soon. He could feel the beast was almost there though. It was gathering its power, almost as if it was going to give him its all for one last time.

If that was indeed the truth, then Raven too would give him his all.

He could see the beast eyeing him closely, its eyes sharp and gleaming a frozen blue. One that would have already chilled his soul if it hadn't been chilled from the start.

They stayed still, unmoving. Raven could feel the dark energy around, being sucked in by the beast. Its eyes glowed brighter each time.

He charged, running straight at the beast. Berthe raised one of his hands, swiping at Raven's location. Raven leaped, dodging its menacing claw by an inch. He felt a stab of pain on his back. He cringed slightly, remembering it was because of the beast before schooling back his expression. He jumped, landing on the beast's back and delivered several slashes across it.

The beast let out a growl of pain before swiftly turning its body, swiping its tail across which hit Raven on his side. It wasn't a fatal blow but it still hurt nonetheless. Raven landed on the floor on his legs, crouching from the impact. He didn't dare to stand as his legs felt wobbly for a second there.

He saw Berthe on the corner his eyes and saw it opening his mouth, readying for something. Something nasty, he was sure. He cursed inwardly, jumping to the second platform. He was about to jump to the third when Berthe a bright blue light gathered on the middle of his mouth. It let out a large icy blast that hit Raven's lower half.

It let out a strong pressure that Raven was brought out with it, his back colliding painfully on the ground. His body felt icy. His limbs growing numb and starting to freeze. He panicked. He couldn't move his hands nor his legs.

Raven shook his head. No use panicking. He curled his hands to a fist and clenched, reaching out for his sword which lied just by an inch from his side thankfully.

He could feel the rage and heat creeping into him. His nasod arm burn, melting the ice around him, freeing him from the icy cold. He could feel the gathering energy swirling around him as he reached for it. The core on his nasod arm brightens as it let out something flying. He realized it was the arm's nasod core, hovering on his back. He felt the power coursing through him and for a split second, he felt like the time had stopped, giving him the time needed to run and leap from platform to platform and with a final leap, he let out one of his most powerful skill.

" _Bloody Accel!_ ", he yelled. The circle of red immediately formed around Berthe's body, tightens around it, slashing here and there, leaving Berthe on the ground, bleeding and writhing.

Raven fell to the ground, a leg kneeling. His whole figure supported by the sword he stabbed on the ground.

 _It's over_ , he thought to himself, _It's over no—_

He felt the stab and numb on his chest. He looked down to see something blue and long passing right through his chest, where his heart was. He could feel it drill into his body, piercing through his back. He let out a cough. Blood splattered with it. He looked at Berthe. It looked smug even when it was dying. His mouth had blood flowing out too, just like him. His eyes gleaming dully before it fade altogether and leaving a hollow pit of darkness in it.

With the last of his strength, he clenched on Berthe's tail and pulled it out of him. His mouth opened on a scream but he couldn't hear anything. He couldn't even found the strength to let out his voice. What a pity.

He lied down on his back beside his sword where it still stood proudly, its blade digging on the ground, as if unaware of its owner's state.

Raven let out several harsh breaths. He could feel his energy sleeping out of him, the burn on his nasod arm cooling. Pain coursed through him so intense that he felt numb. He looked up at the ceiling of the altar high above. At the demon portal slowly closing on the void out of the altar. He smiled to himself.

 _I guess, ravens are meant to fly alone after all…_ he thought to himself. _At least this time, I'll fly alone for good._ His visions blurred, even the brown ceilings of the altar looked distorted. _Seris…_ Darkness crept out to his vision. _Will you be there waiting at the end of the journey for me?_ The raven let out a last shaky breath before closing his eyes, never to open them again.

~Owari

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 **A/N: So, how is it? I intend to simply make a hurt!Raven fic! ...But this came. 8D Berthe I hate you so much. That Howling, seriously. The first time Elsword is out... ...those dungeons are _hell_. You would need very trustworthy people that isn't stupid enough to keep on spamming 200MP skills! But now after so many revamps... ...the dungeons are _really super duper_ easy. ...Well, aside from the new ones in Sander. My characters' levels aren't high enough to enter Lanox... ...yet. My WS will be able to after 2 levels though. 8)**

 **Actually, while writing near the end, I'm starting to think... ...isn't Raven kind of taking their kills this way? But then I decided, oh, whatever, just assume that the weaken Berthe is still the usual Berthe with... ...how much is his health multiplied by again? 20x I think? Yeah, well, anyway, the weaken Berthe here is like our usual Berthe. And yes! Complete Recovery Potion is rare here! And... ...what else. Oh, I forgot the name of Berthe's skill, y'know, the one that shoots ice beam through his mouth, the large one... Ice Blast I think? Not sure, it's been awhile since I last fought Berthe and with the dungeon these days... I've almost never seen that skill anymore. 8D Though in the past it happened _really_ often. And I know Bloody Accel is supposed to allow Raven to absorb the enemy's health, thus healing his injuries but... _come on_! Details! Just... think everything make sense here, it's a fanfic after all! D8**

 **...And I'm basically just ranting in the A/N yeah? Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it!**

 **-Kai**


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